Today it is possible, using techniques developed during the past decade, to study gene products at the molecular level and to analyze relationships between genes. The first year of the project will be spent giving our participating students exposure to the techniques of protein sequence searches, comparisons and alignments using databases holding the more than 7,500 protein sequences now available. Students will learn current methods of search, comparison and alignment of protein sequences. They will be introduced to other methods used to solve problems related to distinguishing between the sense and nonsense contained in eukaryotic chromosomes. A primary goal of the project will be to introduce our students to views on molecular evolution as regards sequence comparisons. The methods will make use of our campus computer facilities, the San Diego Supercomputer Center and desktop personal computers. The students will explore techniques to take advantage of current color graphics technology for the illustration of sequence similarities vividly and more rapidly than is now done with tables of numeric indices.